ADVERTISEMENTS

Marbury was sold on the opportunity to sell his Starbury line of shoes and clothing in China.  Initially, that didn't really take off but it now appears that the resurrection of the Starbury line will be greater than he probably imagined before he moved to China.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Marbury is finalizing a deal with the owner of the basketball team which employs Marbury - and for which Marbury just agreed to play for an additional two years - to form a joint venture to manufacture, distribute and promote Starburys in China.  Initial funding will allow for the set-up of manufacturing operations and the opening of at least the first three stores of which Marbury is predicting will be hundreds.  If, the results of a signing appearance reported in the Journal, where $30,000 in shoes (at least than $50.00 per pair, many as low as $14.98) were sold in just two hours, Marbury's prediction may be low.

This may also represent the new model for American basketball players to be lured to China.  It is certainly one way around the salary cap, at least for those stars with name recognition in China who are willing to do the promotional work and personal appearances necessary to promote shoes or other personally branded products for which endorsement income can offset the salary, but structured in a way that more closely resembles Starbury or Michael Jordan and Nike than just your typical endorsement contract.

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.